Loose Leaf Notes

The night after the 11 artist 300 piece opening of Faces of Floyd at the Jacksonville Center, I went to Max Charnley’s exhibit at Café del Sol. Max is the son of Rosemary Wyman, an artist, dancer, member of the Writer’s Circle I belong to, and fellow Scrabble player. Like his mom, Max – a 2005 Floyd High graduate and Virginia Commonwealth University Art and Graphics Design major – is multi-talented. Over the years I’ve admired his art hanging on the walls of his family home, seen him act in a play, and heard him read his original poetry to an audience. Max’s art reflects a wide range of styles and mediums. Using acrylics, pastels, felt markers, and sometimes computer generation his work ranges from realistic to surreal. Some pieces reflect his student trips to Japan and the influence that Japanese art has had on him. Woodblock print, Art Nouveau, and Comic Book Novel styles are also represented in Max’s work.
One piece that Max titled “Floyd Man,” he did with the Floyd Figures Group, the established group of artists that hires models, regularly draws together, and is currently showing Faces of Floyd at the Jacksonville Center. Done in chalk pastel, “Floyd Man” depicts a reclining man on a royal blue couch with a serene green presence around him. It showcases Max’s hand drawing talent and his use of color, which has the power to make me take a deep relaxing breath.
My personal show favorites are Max’s two spiritful self- portraits,” The inner and outer me,” he said. Hanging across from each other (photo 1 & 2), separated by a cafe door, the one on the left is done in warm red tones and is playful. The outer Max in cool blue and more contained.
A night out at the Café del Sol wouldn’t be complete without a Scrabble game. But the well-attended opening reception was deemed too stimulating for Scrabble concentration, so we settled for BOGGLE. Mara (pictured with box and Max’s sister Emma) broke out a game (two actually, regular and super) and players kept changing seats and taking turns with fast-paced rounds. Even café owner Sally took a turn. Playing with us is something she’s promised to do but hasn’t (until now) since we’ve been playing at the café for the past three years. The food was delicious; especially the red pepper, artichoke, prosciutto and cheese roll spread. The spice cake with maple frosting made Max’s dad Walter’s aunt’s recipe was out of this world.